Surfing: Waimarama beckons hang-loose crew

Maz Quinn is part of the Gisborne pairing who lead the Open men's division ratings.

The final stop of the national series for New Zealand's top surfers and best up and comers in age-group divisions will take place at Waimarama Beach, Hastings, this long weekend.

While some will enjoy a day off work tomorrow, Hawke's Bay Anniversary Day, surfers from around the country will be heading to the province to compete in the Backdoor BayBash on Saturday and Sunday.

The event is an extension of the Backdoor GromBash event, held at Raglan for the past two years. It is the final national event of the year.

The Backdoor BayBash will be the first nationally rated Open men's and women's event in the region. It allows the region's top surfers the chance to compete against the best in New Zealand without having to travel, as well as giving them home advantage.

The Gisborne pairing of Maz Quinn and Bobby Hansen lead the Open men's division ratings, with Quinn confirmed among mainly Bay surfers.

Home talent includes Jeremy Evans, who has competed at a national level on and off for the past decade, Vann Riley, Bronson Primmer and Ben Hazelwood, who can cause some waves on their day.

The Open women's division ratings leader Grace Spiers will be absent because she is competing at the ISA World Surfing Games in Peru. So is Ella Williams, who is defending her Association of Professionals world title in Portugal.

However, that offers an opportunity to several young surfers to add a national-level win to their resumes.

Gisborne surfers Jasmine Smith and Abby Falwasser-Logan sit second and third on the ratings, with the Sansom sisters, Bianca and Gabriella, on their heels. All four will compete this weekend.

The biggest ratings battles will come in the under-17 boys' division, where Kehu Butler (Mnt) will look to hold off Daniel Farr of Taranaki for the No1 year-end ranking.

Northland surfer Manu Scott-Arietta follows but has his work cut out to make up ground on the top three surfers.

In both age-group girls' divisions a tight battle ensues for top honours, the Sansom sisters again fighting it out for the No1 spot in the under-20s.

Raiha Ensor (Mnt), Kea Smith (Mnt), Jasmine Smith (Gis) and Claudia Fraser (Piha) will compete in the U17 girls' section, vying for the No1 year-end ranking.

Competition is from 8am to 5pm daily, with a call on the event venue made early each morning. The small swell forecast at Waimarama Beach is promising. Saturday will feature a competitors' skate night at Skatezone in Napier.